2016 United States Grand Prix - Practice Sessions

SUPERSOFT TYRES SET THE TOP TIMES IN AUSTIN ON THEIR FIRST VISIT TO THE CIRCUIT OF THE AMERICAS

SIGNIFICANT TEMPERATURE FLUCTUATIONS DURING THE DAY ADD TO THE CHALLENGE OF COLLECTING RELEVANT DATA

ONE SECOND BETWEEN SOFT AND SUPERSOFT SEEN SO FAR, WITH THE MEDIUM TYRE ALSO AN INTERESTING OPTION FOR THE RACE

On its first visit to the Circuit of the Americas, the supersoft tyre has gone quickest in free practice, with Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg setting a fastest time of 1m37.358s early in the afternoon session. Conditions in FP1 were cool and so not very representative. In FP2 track temperatures were considerably higher (peaking at 41 degrees centigrade). This is typical of Austin, where temperature swings at this time of year are commonplace. The supersoft and soft tyres are separated by one second so far, with the supersoft, as expected, experiencing greater degradation. This means that the first stint for those starting the race on supersoft tyres might be quite short: potentially encouraging some teams to try and start the race on the soft tyre by running it in Q2 tomorrow. Paul Hembery, Pirelli motorsport director: “From what we can see so far there is around a one-second performance gap between the supersoft and the soft in these conditions. The medium compound is also about a second slower than the soft, which makes it quite an interesting choice for the race. We saw a high degree of track evolution compared to 2014, with rain dominating the conditions last year. There seem to be a number of strategy options: especially because this is a track that you can overtake on.”

FP1 - TIMES

FP2 - TIMES

Hamilton

1m37.428s

Soft New

Rosberg

1m37.358s

Supersoft New

Rosberg

1m37.743s

Soft New

Ricciardo

1m37.552s

Supersoft New

Verstappen

1m39.379s

Medium New

Hamilton

1m37.649s

Supersoft New

FP1 - BEST TIME PER COMPOUND

Medium

Verstappen

1m39.379s

Supersoft

Hamilton

1m38.701s

Soft

Hamilton

1m37.428s

FP2 - BEST TIME PER COMPOUND

Soft

Rosberg

1m38.082s

Supersoft

Rosberg

1m37.358s

Medium

Hamilton

1m38.394s

LONGEST STINTS OF THE DAY

Medium

Palmer

26 laps

Soft

Nasr,Vettel

23

Supersoft

Bottas,Raikkonen

18

Tyre statistics of the day:

Medium

Soft

Supersoft

kms driven *

1808

2706

1984

sets used overall **

21

38

31

highest number of laps **

26

23

18

* The above number gives the total amount of kilometres driven in FP1 and FP2 today, all drivers combined.** Per compound, all drivers combined.Minimum prescribed tyre pressures: 21psi (front) and 19,5psi (rear) Pirelli fact of the day: Leaving aside the 11 editions of the Indy 500 that were also valid for the Formula 1 World Championship between 1950 and 1960, the United States grands prix to be held up to now have been distributed over 9 different circuits (with Indianapolis once again used between 2000 and 2007, and with Long Beach earlier hosting the West US Gp). Other US circuits welcomed F1, for instance Las Vegas for the so named Grand Prix. However, no American has ever won on home soil apart from Mario Andretti, who triumphed at Long Beach with Lotus in 1977. For more info: http://racing.pirelli.com/global/en-ww/f1-america-on-the-roadSpotted in the paddock: Tony Stewart. The only driver to win a championship both in NASCAR and Indycar was a guest of the Haas team, of which he is a partner in the outfit’s NASCAR operation, Stewart-Haas Racing. For more information: please visit our all-new website, which is regularly updated with exclusive in-depth features, news and reviews. To find out more, please visit: http://racing.pirelli.com/global/en-ww/usa-2016-practice

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